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Welcome to
GENETIC CROSSROADS #20
October 3, 2001
Supporting responsible uses of human genetic technologies
Opposing the new techno-eugenics
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For subscription and submission information, see end of message.
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The editors of Genetics Crossroads offer their
deepest sympathy to those who suffered the
tragic loss of loved ones on September 11.
CONTENTS
I. HEALTH AND HUMAN RIGHTS LEADERS CALL FOR INTERNATIONAL
BAN ON
CLONING AND SPECIES-ALTERING PROCEDURES
II. OTHER NEWS
1. Human Cloning Advocate Pushes Fertility Clinics to OK
Sex
Selection
2. World Conference on Racism Addresses Human Genetic Engineering
3. Scientists Boycott Conference Organized by Cloning Advocate
4. Legislative Updates: Australia, Canada, Czechoslovakia
III. UPCOMING CONFERENCE
1. Gene Watch 2001: Workshops with the Experts - November
3,
Harvard University
IV. "EXPLORATORY INITIATIVE" IS NOW THE "CENTER
FOR GENETICS AND
SOCIETY"
V. ABOUT GENETIC CROSSROADS
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I. HEALTH AND HUMAN RIGHTS LEADERS CALL FOR INTERNATIONAL
BAN ON
CLONING AND SPECIES-ALTERING PROCEDURES
Leading health law experts, advocates for human rights, and
others
gathered at Boston University September 21-22 for "Beyond
Cloning:
Protecting Humanity from Species-Altering Procedures." Conference
organizers and speakers called for a global ban on genetic procedures
that fundamentally change the nature of the human species.
"Uncontrolled use of the new genetic technologies risks
setting us on
a dehumanizing road to genetic genocide," said George Annas,
professor
and chair of Boston University's Health Law Department, one of
the
conference sponsors. "We need a comprehensive global treaty
that bans
the most dangerous genetic technologies while allowing beneficial
medical applications to proceed."
More than 140 participants discussed the ethical, legal, and
social
challenges raised by human genetic technologies; the inadequacy
of
existing controls; possible provisions of a new global treaty;
and
political strategies for its adoption.
The envisioned global accord would ban the creation of human
clones
and the modification of inheritable genes, and provide for regulations
to ensure that other new human genetic and reproductive technologies
are used in ways that benefit rather than harm human life and
society.
Conference organizers noted that many governments, including
most
recently those of France and Germany, have called on the United
Nations
to initiate discussions intended to lead to a global treaty, and
that
for such an effort to succeed a broad civil society initiative,
including non-governmental organizations, is needed.
Leading participants in the conference included advocates of
women's
health and reproductive choice, disability rights, indigenous
peoples
rights, and environmental protection.
Proponents of a global ban plan the publication of a report
outlining
the need for such an initiative; further discussions with a wide
range
of scientific, legal, health, human rights, environmental and
political
leaders about ways to put such a proposal on the international
agenda;
and an international conference at a venue outside North America.
For a set of summary materials from the Beyond Cloning conference,
including a draft text of a proposed accord, email your postal
address
to Jesse Reynolds of the Center for Genetics and Society at
<jesse@genetics-and-society.org>.
Here are some of the key points made by conference speakers:
* Lori Andrews, Distinguished Professor of Law and Director
of the
Institute of Science, Law and Technology, Chicago-Kent College
of Law,
argued that bans, not moratoria, are needed for the most dangerous
genetic technologies.
* George Annas, Professor and Chair, Health Law Department,
Boston
University School of Public Health and Co-founder, Global Lawyers
and Physicians, argued that "individuals, countries, or corporations"
have no rights to genetically alter the human species.
* Patricia Baird, University Distinguished Professor, Department
of
Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia and former Chair,
Canadian Royal Commission on the New Reproductive Technologies,
reviewed the public consultation process that has led Canada to
propose national legislation that would regulate the new technologies,
and ban cloning and inheritable genetic manipulation.
* Brent Blackwelder, President, Friends of the Earth, affirmed
that
the genetic manipulation of the human species and of the processes
of the natural world in general should be strongly opposed by
environmentalists.
* Alexander Capron, Director, Pacific Center for Health Policy
and
Ethics, University of Southern California, made a strong case
for a
moratorium on the creation of clonal embryos for research purposes.
* Michael Dorsey, Sierra Club National Board of Directors and
Thurgood
Marshall Fellow, Dartmouth College, emphasized the necessity for
early
participation by the Global South in any international treaty.
* Leonard Glantz, Associate Dean and Health Law Professor,
Boston
University School of Public Health, challenged participants to
articulate more clearly why they oppose species-altering technologies.
* Michael Grodin, Professor of Health Law, Boston University,
and
co-founder, Global Lawyers and Physicians, demonstrated the inadequacy
of existing regulations and structures to control species-altering
genetic technologies.
* Debra Harry, Executive Director, Indigenous People's Council
on
Biocolonialism, argued that indigenous peoples need to be involved
in
the early stages of any proposed treaties.
* Richard Hayes, Executive Director, Center for Genetics and
Society,
emphasized the urgent need to build a broad social movement, including
both professional organizations and mass-based popular organizations,
to counter the push towards a techno-eugenic future.
* Andrew Imparato, President, American Association of People
with
Disabilities, recalled the history of eugenicist targeting of
people
with disabilities, and criticized the exploitative use of images
of
disabled people to motivate opposition to harmful technologies.
* Rosario Isasi, Health Law and Bioethics Fellow, Boston University
School of Public Health, and Global Lawyers and Physicians (Peru),
demonstrated a new interactive web site that displays national
and
international policies on human cloning and inheritable genetic
modification. See <www.glphr.org/genetic/genetic.htm>.
* Stephen Marks, Director, Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Center for
Health
and Human Rights, Harvard School of Public Health, detailed existing
international treaties and proclamations that establish grounds
for
constraining species altering technologies.
* Maxwell Mehlman, Professor of Law and Director, Law-Medicine
Center,
Case-Western Reserve University, noted that although a global
treaty
would face many obstacles, it appears to be an appropriate solution
to the dangers posed by the new technologies.
* Stuart Newman, Professor of Cell Biology and Anatomy, New
York Medical
College, and Board Member, Council for Responsible Genetics, argued
that
human cloning and germline alteration are inherently unsafe, and
that it
would be impossible to "get there from here" without
the unacceptable use
of human lives as experiments.
* Judy Norsigian, Executive Director and Co-Founder, Boston
Women's
Health Book Collective, emphasized the special impact that new
genetic
and reproductive technologies have on women and children.
* Evelyne Shuster, Human Rights and Ethics Program, and Adjunct
Associate Professor of Philosophy and Psychiatry, University of
Pennsylvania, noted that the rhetorical categories used to describe
the new genetic technologies bias us towards their acceptance.
* Susannah Sirkin, Deputy Director, Physicians for Human Rights,
recounted the strategies and tactics used by Physicians for Human
Rights to win a global treaty banning landmines.
* Ann Snyder, Executive Director, Ethics, Law and Biotechnology
Society, Harvard Law School, spoke as a member of the Harvard
student
community. She called for more dialogue before making potentially
irreversible decisions.
The Conference was co-sponsored by the Boston University Health
Law
Department, the Center for Genetics and Society, the Illinois
Institute
of Science, Law and Technology, Global Lawyers and Physicians,
and the
Harvard University Ethics, Legal and Biotechnology Society. Special
financial support for the conference was provided by the CS Fund
and
the Jennifer Altman Foundation.
The conference planning team was George Annas, Richard Hayes,
Evelyne
Shuster, Lori Andrews, and Patricia Baird. Key staff assistance
was
provided by Evelyne Shuster, the Boston University Health Law
Department, and the Center for Genetics and Society.
Beyond Cloning website: <www.bumc.bu.edu/www/sph/lw/website/index.htm>
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II. OTHER NEWS
1. Human Cloning Advocate Pushes Fertility Clinics to OK Sex Selection
The acting chair of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine
(ASRM) Ethics Committee, John Robertson, has stated that it is
some-
times acceptable for couples seeking "gender variety"
in their children
to use preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) for sex selection.
The opinion "stunned many leading fertility specialists,"
according to
the New York Times. It was expressed in a letter from Robertson
to Dr.
Norbert Gleicher, a fertility specialist and founder of an organization
that operates nine fertility clinics in the Chicago and NYC areas.
Both
Robertson and Gleicher are long-time advocates of human cloning.
"What's the next step?" asked Dr. William Schoolcraft
of the Colorado
Center for Reproductive Medicine in Englewood. "As we learn
more about
genetics, do we reject kids who do not have superior intelligence
or
who don't have the right color hair or eyes?"
In an October 1 statement, ASRM Executive Director Dr. Robert
Rebar
said that Robertson's letter does not reflect ASRM's position.
The
group's Ethics Committee will discuss the issue at its next meeting
in January. In the meantime, Gleicher plans to start offering
PGD for
sex selection "immediately" (Kolata, 2001).
Because it is a selective technology, PGD has remained taboo
for any-
thing other than prevention of a handful of severe hereditary
diseases.
Sex selection by any means for non-medical purposes is against
the law
in many countries, and has been strongly opposed by women's rights
groups around the world. In the U.S., a few fertility clinics
offer a
sex selection technique based on sperm sorting, but until now
none has
proposed using PGD, which is much riskier and more invasive.
Gina Kolata, "Fertility Ethics Authority Approves Sex
Selection,"
New York Times, Sept 28, 2001. <www.nytimes.com/2001/09/28/health/
genetics/28EMBR.html?ex=1002698112&ei=1&en=6a2016a592cad7b3
ASRM Position on Gender Selection, Oct 1, 2001.
<www.asrm.org/Media/Press/genderselection.html>
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2. World Conference on Racism Addresses Human Genetic Engineering
A Nobel laureate writer and a health law expert spoke at the
World
Conference Against Racism (WCAR) in September about the potential
of
human genetic engineering to create a "future racism."
At a panel convened by UNESCO, South African writer and Nobel
laureate
Nadine Gordimer asked whether genetic engineering was "the
new face of
racism." She speculated about a future in which the "haves,"
who could
afford access to genetic engineering, might live longer and healthier
lives, while the "have nots"--"principally dark-skinned
people"--would
not be able to afford such access.
Boston University Health Law Professor George Annas said that
human
genetic engineering has the potential to divide humanity into
"super-
humans" and slaves, and that this "gene-ism" could
"eclipse racism as
the most destructive force on the planet." Annas asked the
WCAR to
consider a treaty to ban "all species-altering techniques,"
and spoke
of the need to protect "genetic privacy."
UNESCO's Jerome Binde said WCAR needed to address genetic engineering
to prevent the creation of "a two-track humanity" of
super-humans and
"sub-humans" who were either excluded or genetically
manipulated so
that they could be controlled by the "super-humans."
Online Health Service, <www.health-e.org.za/view.php3?id=20010901>.
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3. Scientists Boycott Conference Organized by Human Cloning Advocate
Scientists and fertility experts withdrew from a conference
when they
learned that it was being organized by Severino Antinori, the
Italian
fertility doctor who has garnered headlines with his announced
plan to
clone human children.
The original sponsor of the conference, the Association of
Private
Assisted Reproductive Technology Clinics and Laboratories (known
as
APART), suspended Dr. Antinori's membership in the organization
and
cut its ties with the meeting.
Among those who decided not to attend the conference were Ian
Wilmut,
one of the scientists involved in cloning the sheep known as Dolly,
and
Dr. Anne McLaren, a member of the UK Human Fertilisation and Embryology
Authority. Wilmut told BBC News Online, "I accepted the invite
in order
to explain why human reproductive cloning would be dangerous.
APART
have now withdrawn and so have I."
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4. Legislative Updates: Australia, Canada, Czechoslovakia
An Australian parliamentary committee has recommended a total
ban on
human cloning and on the creation of embryos for research. In
addition
it called for national regulation of research on adult and existing
embryonic stem cell lines. But it was unable to reach agreement
on the
issue of using surplus human embryos for research. The committee's
300-page report is likely to form the basis of future state and
federal
policies. See <www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_403299.html>.
The Council of Europe's Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine,
which prohibits the cloning of human beings and human embryos,
took
effect in the Czech Republic on October 1. See <http://newsreal.
yellowbrix.com/pages/newsreal/Story.nsp?story_id=23953848&ID=
newsreal&scategory=Internet&>.
In Canada, comprehensive national legislation that would ban
human
cloning and inheritable genetic modification and regulate new
genetic
and reproductive technologies has been introduced. Because a vote
on
the bill is not expected until late next spring, a number of MPs
from
different parties are calling for immediate legislative action
to
prohibit human cloning. Liberal MPs, however, argue that the issue
should be deferred until the complete bill can be considered.
See <www.canada.com/montreal/story.asp?id={7369184E-5E7E-494D-82B2-
376D862E552F}>; <www.canoe.ca/CNEWSPolitics0109/25_clone-cp.html>.
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III. UPCOMING CONFERENCE
1. Gene Watch 2001: Workshops with the Experts
An In-Depth Look at the Challenges of Biotechnology in the
21st Century
Saturday, November 3, 2001, 8:30 am-5:00 pm, Harvard University
Co-sponsored by the Council for Responsible Genetics and the
Indigenous
Peoples Council on Biocolonialism
Workshops with experts on: embryos and genetic technologies,
new
reproductive technologies and their implications, no patents on
life,
workplace genetic discrimination, disability issues, the government
and biotechnology, genetically engineered food, biotechnology
and the
informed public, genetics and the media, genetics and pop culture,
cloning, religion and biotechnology, race and biotechnology, and
MORE!
Richard Hayes of the Center for Genetics and Society will co-chair
a
workshop on "The Politics of Human Cloning and Inheritable
Genetic
Modification: The Need for Progressive Leadership."
Tickets: $15 general public, $10 CRG Associates and students.
Special Conference Package: Admission and 1-year subscription
to
GeneWatch magazine: $19.95. Non-GE lunch: $15.
Conference limited to 150 participants, so reserve your spot early!
Tickets, info, registration: <crg@gene-watch.org> or
617.868.0870.
Updated information at <www.gene-watch.org>.
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IV. "EXPLORATORY INITIATIVE" IS NOW THE "CENTER FOR GENETICS AND SOCIETY"
The Exploratory Initiative on the New Human Genetic Technologies,
which
sponsors this newsletter, has changed its name to the Center for
Genetics
and Society. The name change reflects the development of the organization
beyond its initial "exploratory" purposes to one of
more explicit social
engagement and advocacy. New offices, a new web site, and new
program
initiatives will be announced shortly.
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V. ABOUT GENETIC CROSSROADS
This newsletter originated in 1999 out of the concerns of academics,
activists, and others in the San Francisco Bay Area about the
direction
of the new human genetic and reproductive technologies. It is
published
by the Center for Genetics and Society (formerly the Exploratory
Initiative on the New Human Genetic Technologies), a public interest
organization working to alert the public and leaders of civil
society
about the urgent need for societal oversight of these technologies
and
the dangers of the techno-eugenic vision.
We support genetic and reproductive technologies that serve
the public
interest. We oppose those--such as human germline engineering
and human
reproductive cloning--that would be likely to exacerbate inequality,
the commercialization of reproduction, and the commodification
of
human life.
GENETIC CROSSROADS is published approximately once a month.
Feedback,
submissions, and suggestions are welcome. Marcy Darnovsky will
moderate.
Please forward GENETIC CROSSROADS to others who may be interested.
Center for Genetics and Society staff:
Marcy Darnovsky, Ph.D. <marcy.darnovsky@genetics-and-society.org>
Richard Hayes, M.A. <richard.hayes@genetics-and-society.org>
Tania Simoncelli, M.S. <tania.simoncelli@genetics-and-society.org>
Jesse Reynolds, M.S. <jesse.reynolds@genetics-and-society.org>
Subscriptions and other communications:
<geneticcrossroads@genetics-and-society.org>